Meanwhile, in Avalar
by Opal Amari
Summary: Kinda like a sequal to "How it all began", except it isn't a sequal. It's Hunter and Elora's stories, both rolled into one! Includes how they met, and where the orbs came from. **CHAPTER 3 NOW UP!!!** R/R!!!
1. The Assignment

Disclaimer: Pfffffft....  
  
(A/n): This is Hunter and Elora's story. I originally intended for the stories to be separate, but that would just cause confusion, and we wouldn't want that now, would we? ^_^  
(A/n): This is how I envisioned their lives prior to meeting Spyro (like how I wrote about Spyro's life prior to his first adventure)   
  
  
Well, here goes nothing!!!!  
  
  
Elora  
  
A faun raced through the quiet meadows of Fracture Hills and stopped to catch her breath. It was a beautiful night, the satyr's were playing their magical (but slightly annoying) song. She watched as the other snobby, yo-yo slinging fauns dance with the little pig-bears to the music. The faun stayed away from them, practically an outcast among her own kind.  
  
She brushed her auburn hair out of her eyes and looked around. A flutter behind her told her that a small fairy had finally caught up with her. "Hey, Elora, hurry up! The alchemist expected us an hour ago!!!"   
  
Elora (obviously the faun) smiled. "Don't worry Zoe. I don't think he'll be too mad," she assured Zoe as they headed towards the little stone house.  
  
  
"WHERE have you two been?" the alchemist exploded. "Today, of all the days, I needed you the most, and you decide to show up late!" He stopped to catch his breath, then went on yelling.   
  
"I thought you would be keeping better time Zoe!" Zoe hung her head slightly, and Elora cried out, "Sir, it's my fault! I was out running and..." The alchemist sighed.   
  
"It doesn't matter now anyway. I just wanted to inform you that my good friend, the Professor, has asked us to create some strange objects for him. He calls them orbs, and he left us some plans. These things are very important to him, so follow the plans carefully." He pulled a small, shining, sphere out of his pocket. "This is an orb. I made a sample for you two to copy off. He wants about 64 orbs. Good luck, I have to go work on some other things."  
  
Elora studied the orb. It was a beautiful green, and when she looked through it, it made the world strangely distorted, everything green. "Elora, c'mon! We have to start on these orbs!" She picked up the instructions and held them out to the faun. Then she went and got some items from the storeroom. "Ready?" She asked. "You got it!" Elora replied. And they began their work.  
  
However, not too far away in the castle of Scorch lived a Cheetah family...  
  
(A/n): Do you like it??? Hate it??? Want me to continue??? Then, please, Please PLEASE, by all means, REVIEW!!! (Oooh, a rhyme!) 


	2. Hunter's Escape

(A/n): Chapter 2 is now up! Yeah! Sorry about the long wait, I had to re-write it. Um... enjoy?  
  
  
In the small castle of Scorch...  
  
  
A young cheetah sat on his bedside, tightening the string of his bow. He plucked it. "Perfect."  
  
  
"Yo! Shrimp! Get your tail down here!" Sighing, the cheetah put his bow away. *Now what?* he thought, as he slid down the banister. He ran to the kitchen, where a much older cheetah, his brother, sat, gorging himself with grapes.   
  
"What now Carlos?"  
  
"'Bout time Hunter," Carlos said. "And that's KING Carlos to you."  
  
Hunter was annoyed. "What do you want?"  
  
"I want you to go walk Sir Rodney Porpington for me." Carlos glared. "And I want it done NOW."  
  
Hunter groaned. Sir Rodney Porpington (or the beast, as he called it) was Carlos's pet camel, as rude as they come. When he wasn't bullying the palace guards, he was bullying Hunter, spitting in his face at random and then sniggering about it. "NOW BE GONE!" his brother roared.  
  
The cheetah walked outside. Scorch was steaming at this time of year, and the guards were working overtime. Against their own will, of course, but they were being well paid to do so.   
Hunter cautiously approached the Beast's shed. As soon as his paw was on the door, a loud clatter and braying erupted from the inside. Before Hunter could even pull it open, the Beast broke his way out, trampled the poor cheetah, and chased after a sword-wielding guard.   
After the shock wore off, Hunter dragged himself out of the dirt. By that time, the stupid Beast had worn himself out and was trudging back to the shed. Of course, this meant that it was time for his bathing, grooming, and feeding. By the time Hunter was finished with all these chores, it was well past lunchtime.  
  
Carlos was attending to some business when Hunter walked in, weary, tired, and trampled on. Making sure that no one had any more chores for him to do, he darted up to his room, shut the door, and locked it. He then pulled a small box out from under his bed and opened it. Sitting there, folded up neatly, were his wings.  
Hunter loved to fly. He only had one experience, and that was when he tied a sheet to his wasted and tried to parachute out of his window. It was pretty strange after that, and he hadn't flown since. But after his parents left (retired to Colossus, to achieve inner peace) he began sewing himself some wings. They had yet to be finished, but he was certain they would work as soon as they were.   
Life was pretty good before his parents handed the crown over to Carlos. Hunter could travel wherever he wanted, though usually with his parents. He didn't remember much of those travels, but he still had his running shoes, scuba suit, and his bow and quiver.   
Now that his older brother was using him as some sort of servant, the cheetah was never allowed to travel. Usually, the travels were saved for Carlos and his stupid camel, whereas Hunter was left to clean the palace.  
  
"Sick of what goin' on?" a voice called suddenly from Hunter's window. He turned around, startled. "Who's there?"  
  
"Us," said the voice again. Two small head peaked in through the windows. The heads were attached to two bodies, which leapt into the room. The first person, a girl, had pigtails; the other person, a boy had a beanie.  
  
"Hewwo," the girl said. "I'm Gweta, and this is my bwother, Handel." The boy, who sounded like he had a bad nasal problem, said, "We came to warn you, Prince Hunter. We are here to get you owt of this palace."  
  
Hunter was confused. "What are you talking about?"  
  
Greta looked exasperated. "Me and Handel are secwet agents. Your bwother Carwos had been wobbing from the Avawar tweasure stowage."  
  
"Also the guards are planning a revolt tonight," Handel added quickly. Evidentially, Carlos wasn't paying the guards enough.   
  
Hunter was still confused. "So you're going to get me out of here?" he asked hopefully.   
  
"If you hurry and pack your stuff, yeah. We are," Handel said.   
  
Hunter quickly grabbed a small sack from his closet. He threw in his scuba suit, running shoes, and the sacred wings of his. He attached the sack to his bow, and put the bow in his quiver. Handel and Greta leapt out the window, and Hunter followed, ignoring the height. He was falling... and landed on something soft. An unconscious guard lay under his feet. Evidently knocked out by the twins.  
Hunter climbed to his feet and saw the twins running in the direction in which he definitely didn't want to go in: towards the watchtower. "Hunter, huwwy up!" Greta called. He followed. After several minutes of running, Handel and Greta stopped a large shiny doorway in which Hunter had only seen in the past. The exit.   
Of course, at just that moment, the guards decided to show up. "Get them! Kill them!" The leader screamed, as the guards charged towards them. "Quick, this way!" Handel cried, as he and Greta pulled Hunter towards the portal. The cheetah closed his eyes and propelled himself into the shimmering opening. Before the guards could lay a sword on them, the three escapees had jumped through the portal, and disappeared.   
  
Hunter opened his eyes. He was no longer suspended between Scorch and the portal. He was lying face down in the castle of Autumn Plains, the cold stone tiles underneath his cheek. It was night, the crickets were chirping, and not a sheep or frog was bouncing along the fields below. He sat up, and watched as the hems of Greta's skirt disappear down the stairway to his left. "No! Wait!" Hunter got up and ran down the stairway, but there was no trace of either of the twins. However, there was a small booklet lying at his feet. Curious, he picked it up and noticed a note sticking out of the pages. He opened the book and read the note.  
  
"Dear Hunter,  
Sorry we had to leave so soon, but we have other plans.  
You have to find a place to stay, other than Scorch; cause Carlos (and most likely the guards) will be looking for you.  
If you followed us down the stairs and found this guidebook, you'll notice a portal to in front of you.  
We suggest you stay there.  
Take care!  
  
Handel and Greta.  
  
P.S. This message will self-destruct."  
  
"What does it mean, it will self-destruct?" Suddenly, the letter exploded, blowing ashes into Hunter's face. "Oh. Okay then..." He looked at the page that the note was left on. It was the section on Autumn Plains. He looked through the worlds. "Hmmmmm..." he thought aloud. "Here's Scorch, here's a place called Magma Cone, but this one is..."  
  
The cheetah looked at the large portal in front of him. He read the glittering words hovering above it, "Fracture Hills."  
  
Then, without a moment's hesitation, he leapt through the portal. 


	3. Meeting

(A/n) New chapter, at last. Sorry about the delay, but I was on vacation. Blessed, well-deserved, calming vacation… well, with the exception of calming. Yup. And then my computer got revamped (HALLY-YOO-YA!!!!) so everything is a LOT smoother. And to all those people that read and reviewed (???, Drakena Spy Dragoness, Jessie the Dragon, Miss Hagrid, Zita the Celestial Houndoom, Readasaur, Draconis, and Boo-Boo) I thank you VERY VERY much. ^_^

Back in Fracture Hills…

Elora wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Phew, these orbs are taking forever to make!" She placed another freshly made orb on the table. Zoe fluttered over and zapped it with her wand, filling it with magic, as the Alchemist instructed her to. Then the fairy tossed it over her shoulder into a box of orbs.

"What's our count so far, Zoe?" 

"So far we only have nine."

"NINE?" Elora cried. "It seemed like so many more!" The faun looked down at the clutter of plans, excess crystal, metal, and tools. "Bad news, Elora," Zoe called from the supplies closet. "We're low on crystal. You'll have to go get some more from Glimmer."

Elora sighed. "Might as well. It's stifling in here." She grabbed a bag from the shelf and exited the sweltering building. The midnight breeze of Fracture Hills flew past her, cooling her off. The faun proceeded towards the portal to Autumn Plains, looking over the list. "Let's see… crystal, wire-" 

"Looking for supplies?" 

Elora jumped as someone approached from behind. She turned to see a rather large figure standing in her way of the portal. It appeared to be a bear, wearing a navy colored suit, loafers, and a monocle and carrying a small burlap sack. He grinned at her with a greedy twinkle in his eye. "I see you're looking for some crystal, am I correct?"

Elora just stared at the bear. "Yes," she stammered, still in shock of his sudden appearance.

The bear's grin widened. "And I suppose you're dreading the walk all the way to Glimmer, aren't you?"

"No, not really-" Elora began, but the bear cut her off.

"Wonderful! I can offer you the supplies you need. I happen to have them right here! Would you like them, little faun? Only 2000 gems!"

"What??? 2000??? What a rip off!" Elora cried. She tried to walk past the bear, but he blocked the portal again.

"Now, now, little faun, you aren't going to find this quality crystal any where else! Not even in Glimmer!" He pulled out a piece of crystal from his pocket. "Look at the luster!" He held it up, and it crumbled to dust in his hand.

"Hey, that's only rock candy!" Elora was pretty fed up with this bear. She tried pushing her way past his bulk, but he won't budge. "Now little girl, just accept the offer!" the bear demanded. "Deals like this don't just fall out of the sky you know!"

**WUMP**!!! Something heavy flew out of the portal and kicked the bear in the backside, sending him straight into a beehive. The bear ran off howling in pain and covered with bees.

Elora was relieved to see the bear was gone. She turned to the creature that lay stunned on the ground. It was a cheetah. A bag lay next to him. As she leaned over to get a better look, his eyes flew open. "Auugh! Don't hurt me!" He curled up, covering his head with his arms. 

Elora was confused. "Why would I hurt you?" The cheetah cautiously opened one eye. "You're not gonna hurt me?"

"No!" she cried. "Why? Is someone chasing you?"

The cheetah leaped up and grabbed her hands in his paws. "Please help! My brother is coming and he's going to throw me in the dungeon for running away!" Something sounded behind them and Elora turned to find a Scorch guard standing halfway through the portal. He grinned evilly at them and raised his sword but fortunately Elora, thinking quickly, smashed the bag the bear had dropped over his head, knocking him back into the portal. "Quick, this way!" she called, pulling the cheetah away from the portal, just as more guards pushed through. Suddenly, an idea came to her. "I have a plan!" She called to the cheetah. Turning around, she saw several more guards following them, and behind them stormed a larger cheetah riding an irate camel. "You'll pay for this, Hunter!" He raged as he urged the camel and the guards onward. Thinking frantically, Elora summoned up the only easy spell she knew: transportation. 

The guards were a sword's swipe away from their victims when suddenly, at the last moment, the faun and the cheetah disappeared right in front of them. The guards stopped suddenly, and good thing too, because they would have fallen into the molten lava bubbling below the cliff they were preciously balancing on. Unfortunately, Carlos didn't see the red goo, and his camel smashed into the guards, sending them down. The camel managed to stop in time, but the guards all exploded into spirit particles. Turning his camel towards two figures in the distance, he urged it forth.

Elora and the cheetah had only transported a short way away from the guards, and were now running at breakneck speed from the raging Carlos. The jumped into the small crevice in the ground and raced towards the supercharge posts. Thanks to the guards' spirit particles, the supercharge was active, and Elora and the cheetah shot through towards the Alchemist's house, avoiding the large boulders in the way. Carlos forced his tired camel to go on, but before they could get too far, they smashed into a boulder. Carlos started cursing the huge rock, but he didn't notice that is was moving. Or that it had arms and legs. As a shadow over fell him, he looked up at the largest Earth Shaper he had ever seen. The Earth Shaper was pretty mad at being awoken, and it grabbed a small green rock from behind it, holding it over the stupefied Carlos and Sir Rodney Porpington. By the time Carlos had begun to scream, the rock had already dropped, and from then on, the "King" of Scorch was no more than a statue. 

***********

Elora led the tired, scared cheetah up to the Alchemist's house. Zoe came zipping out of the window. "That was a short trip, El- oh my goodness, who is that?" She gasped. Elora grinned weakly. "Hey, your name was Hunter, wasn't it?" She asked the shaking bundle of spots. He looked up gratefully at the faun. "Y-yes," he stuttered, clasping his bag tightly. She grinned again. "My name is Elora," she told him. "And I'm Zoe," Zoe stated. 

"You should probably stay here for a while and rest," Elora said quietly to the worn out Hunter. "You can stay in the spare room. I'm sure the Alchemist won't mind." She led him to a small room, completely empty except for a bed, a desk, and a lamp. Hunter responded with a weak "Thank You" before flopping onto the bed and immediately snoozing.

(A/n) Well, there's Chapter 3 at long last. Don't worry, for those who care, the story is far from over! I still have some other plans… Hopefully, if school hasn't killed me, I'll be able to get the next chapter out by my birthday (Oct. 20) so wish me luck! Thank you, and good night!


End file.
